May 30, 2009

Reporters Notebooks

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: As expected, the Southeastern Conference agreed to cap signing classes at 28 players. The NCAA allows 25 players to enroll annually, but in the last three years more than half of the SEC teams have oversigned. Mississippi signed 37 last year. The change will start immediately in the SEC, which also will sponsor NCAA legislation to make 28 the limit across the country. The league also distributed $132.5 million to its 12 schools, a 4% increase from last year.

Kyle Veazey, Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State's share of money from the SEC — $11.1 million — is projected to be 31.7% of the Bulldogs' athletic budget.

Tim Tucker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The SEC's new television contracts with ESPN and CBS, which take effect this fall, will produce an additional $5.5 million per team for fiscal 2010, according to Georgia athletics director Damon Evans.

John Hunt, Oregonian: Oregon's Mike Bellotti will be leaving behind more than $1 million in salary in moving from the football office to the athletic director's chair.

Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Penn State's Joe Paterno topped $1 million in salary last year, making him the highest-salaried employee at the university. University president Graham Spanier earned about half the salary of Paterno — $590,004.

Bill Koch, Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati is still waiting for a decision from the NCAA on whether Vidal Hazelton, the receiver who transferred from USC, will be eligible to play this fall.

Steve Politi, Newark Star-Ledger: Minnesota's Tim Brewster said if the Big Ten were to expand, Rutgers would be a team to target. "I am definitely for the addition of another team, and it would be great to bring in a team from the Eastern market. I certainly believe Rutgers is a tremendous candidate, one that obviously makes sense."

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The last sentence of the NY Times story on student fees makes no sense. Wright Waters, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, said of athletic departments feeling financial pressure: “They’re like a guy sitting at the blackjack table all night who hasn’t seen a face card yet. How many more cards can they be dealt?”

If you've been playing blackjack for a while and haven't seen a face card yet, the odds have shifted hugely in the players' favor. Perhaps he meant to use a poker analogy?